1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in bedding anchors, and more particularly, to an improved set of bedding anchors which can operate at the corners of a bed by holding a bed sheet in a taut condition, and which also utilizes the space between the box springs and the mattress.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In hospitals, rest homes and the like, where patients spend considerable periods of time in bed and, often, are unable to leave the bed for more than a short period of time, if at all, the problem of sheet wrinkles can become a major concern. These seemingly minor sheet wrinkles can cause great discomfort to the patients and tend to cause skin irritation and to create bed sores which can become infected. Hence, these wrinkled sheets may lead to serious complications after a period of time. Unfortunately, no matter how tightly the sheets are drawn, during the process of making the bed, movement of the patent will, eventually, cause some loosening of the sheet and, thereby will create wrinkles. Obviously, it is impractical to provide continual attention for every patient, so that the sheets can be re-tightened whenever wrinkles occur. However, even when such constant attention is possible, as with full-time private nursing, some wrinkling invariably occurs.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,009, I identified several problems with the prior art bedding anchors and proposals which had been presented therefor. As indicated therein, many of the prior art bedding anchors only served to retain the bed sheet at the corners of the mattress but this did little to prevent wrinkling and other dislocation of the bed sheet. One of the primary problems with the prior art bedding anchors is that they did not grasp sufficient amount of the surface area of an edge of the bed sheet and hence, rendered the prior art bedding anchors relatively ineffective for their intended purpose.
In my aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,009, dated Mar. 3, 1992, I have provided a unique bedding anchor which did overcome many of the prior art problems. While the bedding anchor described in this U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,009 was effective, there still has been a need for a bedding anchor which is relatively easy to use and which can be quickly installed on an existing bed and easily removed therefrom when changing the bedding materials.
The prior art has revealed numerous types of bedding anchors and exemplary of this prior art are the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issued ______________________________________ 2,931,084 H. K. De Witt April 5, 1960 2,939,195 Carlson June, 1960 2,988,759 V. E. Gerdes June 20, 1961 3,092,848 G. B. Gronvold June 11, 1963 3,913,186 Ray, et al. October, 1975 4,276,667 B. C. Osbourne July 7, 1981 4,660,240 Hutton, et al. April, 1987 4,782,543 Hutton, et al. November, 1988 ______________________________________
Each of the aforesaid U.S. Patents suffered numerous disadvantages such as those mentioned above. Particularly, they were not effective in holding a sheet taut across the entire length of the bed and across the entire width of the bed. The bedding anchor which I propose herein accomplishes that result and moreover, is easy to use.